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Quantum superposition is a fundamental principle of quantum mechanics that states that linear combinations of solutions to the Schrödinger equation are also solutions of the Schrödinger equation. This follows from the fact that the Schrödinger equation is a linear differential equation in time and position.
There are exact correspondences between the superposition presented in the main on this page and the quantum superposition. For example, the Bloch sphere to represent pure state of a two-level quantum mechanical system is also known as the Poincaré sphere representing different types of classical pure polarization states.
A quantum state can be an eigenvector of an observable, in which case it is called an eigenstate, and the associated eigenvalue corresponds to the value of the observable in that eigenstate. More generally, a quantum state will be a linear combination of the eigenstates, known as a quantum superposition.
In quantum mechanics, Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment concerning quantum superposition. In the thought experiment, a hypothetical cat may be considered simultaneously both alive and dead, while it is unobserved in a closed box, as a result of its fate being linked to a random subatomic event that may or may not occur.
One example of superposition is the double-slit experiment, in which superposition leads to quantum interference. Another example of the importance of relative phase is Rabi oscillations, where the relative phase of two states varies in time due to the Schrödinger equation. The resulting superposition ends up oscillating back and forth between ...
A well known example of a two-state system is the spin of a spin-1/2 particle such as an electron, whose spin can have values +ħ/2 or −ħ/2, where ħ is the reduced Planck constant. The two-state system cannot be used as a description of absorption or decay, because such processes require coupling to a continuum.
At the heart of quantum “weirdness” and the measurement problem, there is a concept called “superposition.” Because the possible states of a quantum system are described using wave ...
A linear combination of atomic orbitals or LCAO is a quantum superposition of atomic orbitals and a technique for calculating molecular orbitals in quantum chemistry. [1] In quantum mechanics, electron configurations of atoms are described as wavefunctions.